Wind Power News: Sweden

These news and opinion items are gathered by National Wind Watch to help keep readers informed about developments related to industrial wind energy. They are the products of the organizations or individuals noted and do not necessarily reflect the opinions of National Wind Watch.

Wind energy is set to double its share of Sweden’s power supply over the next four years as a string of giant projects come online. The contribution of wind energy is scheduled to grow from 17TWh in 2018 to 35 TWh in 2022, taking wind’s share from 12 percent to 25 percent of total power produced. Charlotte Unger, chief executive of the Swedish Wind Energy Association trade body said the pro-renewable policy decisions had been driving growth. “Sweden has the . . .Complete story »

Clean power, green jobs, no emissions – the wind industry is used to being one of the good guys. But to Åsa Larsson-Blind, president of the Sami Council, it’s just the latest – and potentially most deadly – industrial threat to a fragile, ancient culture focused around reindeer herding up towards the Arctic Circle. “The wind industry often says it wants to have a dialogue,” Larsson-Blind told Recharge. “But I believe it thinks it is easier to accommodate than it . . .Complete story »

According to the power company Skellefteå Kraft, the wind farm will strengthen Arjeplog’s reputation as a cold-climate test area. According to the local property owners, the field will bring an uglier scenery and disturbing light conditions and noise to the area. The result will be increased disturbance to reindeer herding, says the reindeer herders’ Maskaure Sámi Village. Skellefteå Kraft AB has applied for changes in the licence the company has for its wind farm on Uljabuouda Fell. At present, the . . .Complete story »

Sweden will have to import more electricity during winter as the country, a net power exporter to the rest of Europe, shifts from nuclear to wind, its grid operator said. Last winter, the first since the closure of its Oskarshamn 1 reactor, stretched Sweden’s resources as peak consumption rose by 800 megawatt (MW), triggering start-up procedures in its reserve energy plants. Sweden’s power balance will deteriorate further from next winter, the country will need imports and the situation will become . . .Complete story »

Norwegian utility company Statkraft may cancel plans to build one onshore wind farm in Sweden and scrap plans to upgrade another after a local court rejected its request to build taller turbines, the firm said on Tuesday. In May, Sweden’s Land and Environmental Court of Appeal denied Statkraft licenses to extend the height of two of its wind farm projects, which had aimed to add 59 turbines of up to 250 megawatt (MW) combined capacity. “The two (projects) that had . . .Complete story »

Several wind farm projects in Sweden are under threat due to the government’s decision to reserve more airspace for its armed forces, according to two companies and an industry lobby group. In November, the government said its air force had labeled more airspace as low-flying zones in order to protect its operations from the expanding wind power industry. The move, to avoid planes colliding with wind turbines, has created uncertainty for a number of planned wind farms. Sweden’s largest utility, . . .Complete story »

The boom of a 750 tonne truck crane collapsed yesterday while lifting the nacelle of a wind turbine in Sweden. The crane a Liebherr LG1750 – which appears to be owned by Polish company Viatron – was working at the Solberg windfarm in Västerbotten to the south of Åsele in central Sweden. It had just started to lift a large Vestas turbine when the boom went over the rear of the crane. Reports claim that the turbine was only a . . .Complete story »

Halting Swedish wind turbines at still summer nights would save almost all of the tens of thousands of bats killed by the rotating blades every year. Every turbine kills 10-15 bats annually on average as the creatures are struck when they hunt insects attracted by the spinning unit, according to a study by Sweden’s Energy and Environmental Protection agencies. Halting turbines on summer nights when winds are low would save most of the bats without a significant loss in renewable . . .Complete story »

Sweden’s Accident Investigation Authority (SHK) has blamed fatigue in bolts on the tower of a Vestas V112-3.0MW turbine that collapsed in late 2015, highlighting inadequate assembly. The turbine collapse at the 98MW Lemnhult wind farm south of the town of Vetlanda in Jönköpig county on Christmas Eve 2015 was the first such incident involving one of Vestas’ MW-class machines. The SHK in a summary of its investigation said bolts that had held together the flange between the first and second . . .Complete story »

Swedish officials have pointed to incorrect bolt installation as the root cause of a Vestas turbine collapse at the Lemnhult wind farm in late 2015. Government accident investigation authority SHK said the three-year-old V112 which failed on 24 December showed clear signs of fatigue and corrosion at the join between the bottom and second section of the tower. “The bolts that had held together the joint had suffered from a fatigue process and the bolts could no longer withstand the . . .Complete story »